New Beginnings
by HeWhoGuidestheWay
Summary: (Set 20 years after the Last Hope) Goldenpaw, Brightpaw, and Dawnpaw are apprentices of WindClan. Life seems to be going along without much trouble. But, when a new threat arises to destroy the Clans, can Goldenpaw, Brightpaw and Dawnpaw stop it? Or will they die with the Clans? (Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors or Erin Hunter)
1. Prologue

Oakstar padded around the WindClan camp having just been told he and his mate Swanfeather, were having kits. The proud brown tom eagerly sat down next to Swanfeather.

"Oakstar," she greeted him. Swanfeather was a cat many of the toms in WindClan chased after, Oakstar included. She was beautiful beyond words. Her pelt was the perfect color of white, like the snow in Leaf Bare, yet her river-blue eyes denoted a softer, kinder soul. She was liked by many, and ultimately chose Oakstar. The tom affectionately licked his mate's ear.

"Are you deciding what to name our kits?"

"I don't really know," she replied.

"Well, I was thinking, something along the lines of Lionkit, Leopardkit, and Firekit," the tom said hopefully, though, the face Swanfeather had said otherwise.

"Actually, I was hoping for something such as Petalkit or Flowerkit," she said merrily.

"We'll name them once they are born," the leader licked the she-cat's ears one last time and left.


	2. Chapter 1

Light flittered through the roof of the nursery. Goldenkit, the eldest and biggest out of Oakstar's kits was snoozing happily. Dawnkit, Oakstar's middle kit was curled next to Goldenkit and the two siblings were very happy. Swanfeather opened her eyes slightly. She smiled at her kits, it had been six moons, and she felt sad that they would be apprenticed soon. She had bonded with them so much over the last six moons. Goldenkit was very eager and ready to please. He had a sense of adventure that reminded her much of Oakstar when he was an apprentice. His pelt was the color of the sun just rising over the horizon. His eyes were amber, just like his father. Dawnkit was a very happy kit; she was always observing the camp much like Raggedpelt did. She had the darkest fur, much like her father, it was a darker gray-brown, looking almost like the sky, moments before the sun rose. For that reason, they had named her Dawnkit.

She felt a bit of envy for her mate, he had two kits that were so much like him. She sighed and looked to the spot next to Dawnkit. Then startled, she looked around. She saw Poppytail, the white she-cat whose fur made her look like poppy seeds. She looked around not able to find what she was looking her. She felt a pang of disappointment and guilt as she looked around.

She couldn't find him, Oakstar's final kit, the only one that was much more like her than his father. She found him in the corner of the nursery, sleeping on a little pile of leaves, and his name, why, it was Brightkit. Brightkit looked much more like Swanfeather. They shared the same eyes, the same river-blue eyes Oakstar fell madly in love with, they had the same pelt, only, Brightkit's was a light gray. He was actually, smaller than Dawnkit and Goldenkit. Swanfeather remembered they day she the three kits were born.

_She was tired; she had delivered all three kits. She and Oakstar had named them all. She licked Goldenkit and Dawnkit while Oakstar licked Brightkit. Then, her heart dropped as she heard Oakstar speak, "C-Cloudheart, Brightkit's not breathing!"_

_ The white medicine cat ran over. She looked at the kit. He wasn't moving; Swanfeather stared at her kit in horror. Had he died when he was born? "I'm sorry, but he's dead," Cloudheart said sadly. _

_ Then Raggedpelt entered the nursery, a happy smile on his face. "Ah, there are the new kits, but, why are you sad? This should be a happy moment," then, the deputy noticed Brightkit. His expression fell, "Oh, I didn't know, I'm very sorry," he said. Then, as the four cats were in silence, Brightkit suddenly coughed. The cats stared at him, surprised. Oakstar began to lick to get his blood flowing._

_ "He's alive," Cloudheart said surprised._

_ "Congratulations," Raggedpelt said happily._

The poor kit was very lonely and shy; he was too shy to even speak to his own siblings and father for that reason. Swanfeather seemed to be the only cat he could be around. He normally slept with her and his littermates in the moss nest. Swanfeather carefully stood, trying not to disturb Goldenkit or Dawnkit.

She padded over to Brightkit. "Brightkit?" she whispered prodding the sleeping kit.

"Hmm?" he rolled over.

"What are you doing over here?"

"I'm gonna be a warrior soon, I have to learn to sleep on my own," he said. Swanfeather picked him up by the scruff and set him down.

"Well, let's enjoy this final moment together." She licked the kit's ear as he happily snuggled with his mother.


	3. Chapter 2

Swanfeather was grooming her three kits as her mate sat with her. "I'm so proud, they're going to be apprentices, I've already decided your warrior names," the leader smiled.

"Really, what are they?" Dawnkit said excitedly.

"Please tell us," Goldenkit said.

"No, you must wait until your warrior ceremony." The two kits pouted while Brightkit sat a bit away from the others. Swanfeather padded over to where Brightkit was sitting.

"Brightkit, go talk to your father," she encouraged the gray tom.

"But, he's the leader, and I have to show my respect," he said quietly fumbling with his own paws. "I don't have anything to say to him."

"Yes, but he is also your father and nothing will change that," Swanfeather explained.

"B-But, I don't want to, I-I'm just not ready," he stuttered staring at his paws. Swanfeather felt so bad for Brightkit. He never left the nursery to play with Goldenkit and Dawnkit, he was terrified of the other warriors, and he was terrified of his own father.

"Alright, but, you're going to become an apprentice today, and you're going to have to talk to your mentor and father," Brightkit continued to fumble with his paws.

Oakstar padded over, giving a glance at Brightkit, who continued to look at his paws. He attempted to go over, but Swanfeather stopped him, shaking her head. Oakstar nodded. Oakstar had wanted nothing more from Brightkit than for him to acknowledge Oakstar as his father, but the kit never spoke to him or even looked at him.

"It's time," Oakstar leapt up on the rock in the center of camp, "Let all cats old enough to hunt gather under TallRock for a Clan Meeting!"

Swanfeather sat with her kits, two of which were bouncing happily. "We are here to honor the apprenticing of three kits." Goldenkit, Dawnkit and Brightkit jumped up the rock. "Goldenkit, Dawnkit, Brightkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Goldenpaw, Dawnpaw, and Brightpaw."

"Goldenpaw," the golden cat looked at his father with his dark amber eyes, "your mentor will be Tallstripe. I hope he will pass down all he knows on to you." Tallstripe was surprised, he had just become a warrior not two moons ago, but still leapt up on TallRock and touched noses with an excited Goldenpaw.

"Dawnpaw," Dawnpaw gave her father a glance with her light amber eyes, staring into Oakstar's pair of amber eyes, "your mentor will be Foxseeker. I hope he will pass down all he knows on to you." Foxseeker proudly leapt up onto rock. Swanfeather chuckled. Foxseeker has defeated so many foxes; Rockstar had named him Foxseeker as he _hunted_ for foxes.

Finally, Oakstar turned to Brightpaw who didn't look at his father, no, but at his own paws. Oakstar's proud eyes dimmed to a mere disappointment. "Brightpaw," Brightpaw lifted his head his river-blue eyes clouded with terror and looked at the Clan, but couldn't bring himself to look at Oakstar. "Your mentor will be Silverstorm, I hope he will pass down all he knows to you," Silverstorm leapt up, proud to be Brightpaw's mentor and somehow managed to get the apprentice to touch noses with him.

"Tallstripe, Foxseeker, Silverstorm, you are ready to take on apprentices. You had received excellent training from Cedarear, Flowerfur and Breezetail, and you have shown yourselves to be honorable and proud. You will be the mentor of Goldenpaw, Dawnpaw, and Brightpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to them." The three warriors dipped their heads with respect.

Swanfeather was proud, she padded over to Oakstar, "He didn't even look at me Swanfeather," he muttered quietly. "My own son didn't even look at me," he said.

"He just needs sometime, you know, he was the runt of the litter, he would be naturally shy," Swanfeather explained.

"I've seen runts, they've all turned out to be excellent cats, tell me Swanfeather, does Brightpaw even know what color my eyes are? Does he even know what color my fur is?" the leader said a little too sharply to his mate.

Swanfeather flinched, "Well, I'm sure he does," she said hopefully.

"Swanfeather, I don't even know the color of his eyes, he's always staring at his own paws when I visit, I would give anything, I just want Brightpaw to look at me, like a father, not his leader he should bend to at a whim," Oakstar's eyes clouded with slight envy. "How do you do it Swanfeather? He talks to you, he looks at you, but why doesn't he do the same to me? I'm his father, I want him to treat me that way."

Brightpaw was sitting with his bouncing siblings. "I'm sure he just needs time."

"I just can only hope," Oakstar sighed sadly.


	4. Chapter 3: Half a Moon later

Goldenpaw, Swiftpaw, Quickpaw and Dawnpaw were all practicing the Duck and Twist with Tallstripe, Foxseeker, Honeyfur, and Spottedriver. Silverstorm however was trying to help Brightpaw who still hadn't passed the simple Front Paw Blow. "Like this," Silverstorm said demonstrating the attack one more time. Brightpaw tried again and ended up falling on his face.

Dawnpaw looked at her brother. He got back up again. "I'm never going to do it!"

"You just need practice," Silverstorm encouraged Brightpaw.

"I've been doing this for days! The other apprentices got it on the first try, all I got was to go to the medicine den!" he said staring at his own paws.

"Brightpaw, you need to focus! If you start looking at your paws in the middle of a battle, that's the perfect time for an enemy to take advantage of you!" Silverstorm said.

"I'm never going to be a good warrior. I can't hunt, I can't fight; I can't do anything!" Then, he ran off.

"Brightpaw!" his mentor ran after him.

"He's so moody," Swiftpaw said.

"He's not moody," Dawnpaw said defending Brightpaw.

"He's just, a little, what's the word," Goldenpaw struggled, "frustrated."

"Alright back to training," Spottedriver said.

~oOo~

Brightpaw was running Silverstorm called to him, he didn't care; amazingly, he managed to outrun the WindClan warrior. "Brightpaw, get back here or so help me!" He wanted Swanfeather, he wanted his mother to comfort him, telling him he would make a fine warrior, but, he knew deep in his heart, that was all a lie. He was a terrible apprentice. He finally stopped at the lake, staring at his own reflection. He was terrible, he couldn't do anything.

"I'm a failure," he muttered to himself.

"Brightpaw," his mentor hissed. Brightpaw continued to stare at his gray paws. He had always dreamed of becoming a warrior. Now, he wasn't so sure. "We're going to have a little talk with Oakstar," his mentor growled. He and his mentor walked back to camp. Brightpaw was looking down.

"Silverstorm, Brightpaw, I thought you were training," Raggedpelt said.

"We _were_ until Brightpaw decided to run away, _again_. I need to talk to Oakstar," Silverstorm said annoyed. Raggedpelt nodded and led him over to the leader.

"Silverstorm, how nice to see you, I hope you have come to give me good progress on Brightpaw," the leader said.

"Unfortunately, quite the opposite, he ran away from training today, and his progress is very slow."

Oakstar gazed at Brightpaw who continued to look at his paws. Oakstar turned back to Silverstorm, "Again?". "Hmm, I can't punish him, considering he has much training to do."

"Oakstar, maybe he just needs time, let him work around camp, let him change the bedding, get rid of ticks," Silverstorm suggested, Oakstar nodded at this.

"Brightpaw, go ask Cloudheart for mouse bile, then check the elders for ticks after that, I want you to go change the bedding for the elders and Poppytail."

"Yes Oakstar," Brightpaw said quietly.

He padded off to the medicine den. "C-Cloudheart, I-I need some mouse b-bile," Brightpaw said nervously. Cloudheart nodded and came back out with a ball off moss.

"Here you go Brightpaw, and don't worry, you'll do better next time. Don't put that in your mouth or you'll be tasting that for days, and make sure to wash your paws in water afterwards." The smell of the bile was terrible. Brightpaw had heard Swiftpaw and Quickpaw complaining about the horrible smell, but, this was beyond horrible. Though, Brightpaw continued to roll the stinking ball into the abandoned badger set that was the elder's den.

"Brightpaw, what a nice surprise," Flowerfur purred to the apprentice.

"Oakstar t-told me to get rid of your ticks," he said silently.

"Oh, that would be nice, here, you can start with me first," Brightpaw rolled the ball over to Cedarear and used his paws to look through the cat's fur. Surprisingly, it was easier than hunting or fighting. Every time he found a tick, he dabbed the ball of moss on the Cedarear's ticks. "Oh, Brightpaw, you have a talent for this, I've never had an apprentice remove my ticks like that in moons!"

"It honestly looks like he's grooming you and getting rid of ticks at the same time! I can't wait for him to get to me." Soon, Cedarear was tick free and his fur was pristine and perfect. Brightpaw moved on to Flowerfur. Her fur was slightly longer than Cedarear's but still Brightpaw's clumsiness when he tried to hunt or fight was beaten by his ability to find ticks. "That feels amazing, you were right."

"I-I hope you are comfortable, can I change your bedding?"

"Oh no, you've done a fine job already, besides, my bedding is fine," Cedarear said. Brightpaw nodded and walked out with the ball of moss. He placed it at the dirt place, much to his nose's discontent, at bit away to leave the mouse bile to burn up.

He gathered moss from around a tree near the edge of the territory by ThunderClan after he had washed his paws in the stream near by. He scraped the moss off and had a nice ball of the soft bedding. He took a nice breath and smelled something that his didn't smell when he had gotten to the tree. It was calling to him. He padded over to a corner of WindClan territory and found a wonderful smelling plant, to him, it definitely beat the smell of mouse bile. He decided to pick some as a gift to Swanfeather. He took the ball of moss back to camp and entered the nursery to change the moss and the elder's den.

"Brightpaw, you're back," Cedarear said. Brightpaw nodded. He quickly set the new moss around the elders who stood up and allowed him to make a nest with the new moss and old moss. "You really didn't to change our bedding," Cedarear said sheepishly to the apprentice.

"Y-You're the elders; it's the duty of the apprentice to take care of you. You've served our Clan for many moons," Brightpaw said quietly and left the den. He padded over to Swanfeather with the plant in his mouth.

"Swanfeather," he greeted his mother happily.

"Brightpaw, I hear you've helped the elders. Flowerfur and Cedarear were very happy with you removing their ticks," she grinned happily.

"I got something for you while I was collecting moss," he said happily.

"Oh, this is amazing, but, where did you find this?" Swanfeather asked as Brightpaw set down the plant right next to her.

"Near the ThunderClan territory," Brightpaw explained.

"Go take it to Cloudheart, this is a herb," Brightpaw nodded. He appeared in the medicine den.

"Brightpaw, what do you need now? More mouse bile?"

"N-No, I came to give you this," he set down the herb.

"Brightpaw where did you find this?"

"Near ThunderClan territory," he said looking at his paws.

"Well, I'm glad you found it, this is catmint," Brightpaw looked up.

"You should be proud, you found a rare herb, we hardly find it out here, normally it grows near the twoleg places, and it'll be great for Leaf Bare!" Brightpaw then looked down. His mouth gave a small smile. He left the den and Cloudheart prepared to put the catmint away, then, she noticed, the leaves, they looked different and were a more vivid shade of green. She looked at it, it _was_ catmint, she was sure of that, but, she couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that it was shaped oddly, she simply decided to ignore her suspicions, thanking StarClan for the catmint.


	5. Chapter 4

The apprentices were sore from training all day. Dawnpaw was paired with Swiftpaw. "You will attack, but, your claws sheathed. You will try to pin the other." Silverstorm gave the signal. Dawnpaw pounced on Swiftpaw who rolled to the side.

"Nice try," he grinned. Dawnpaw jumped once more. Swiftpaw rolled to the side again dodging the attack. Dawnpaw faced him and brought her paw down on his head. He stumbled backwards, but quickly recovered, she swatted at him, but he jumped back dodging then brought his paw down on her head and jumped on her pinning her down.

"Hey, you only won because my muscles are so sore."

"Mine are too, but I still beat you," he said happily. Goldenpaw has pinned Quickpaw.

"This was a good training session," Foxseeker said. "Remember, Dawnpaw, Swiftpaw, you'll be coming on Dawn Patrol with me and Dewdrop."

"I wonder how Brightpaw's doing," Dawnpaw muttered.

"Dawnpaw, he's fine," Swiftpaw reassured her.

"I hope so," they returned to camp where they saw Brightpaw setting out bedding for the warriors and apprentices.

"H-Hi Dawnpaw, Goldenpaw, Swiftpaw, Quickpaw," he said.

"Are you okay?" Goldenpaw asked his smaller brother.

"I-I'm fine," Brightpaw slunk away from Goldenpaw. "I-I'm going to go talk to Swanfeather," he padded away.

"He's so… shy," Quickpaw said.

"I'm sure he's just nervous," Dawnpaw said. Dawnpaw always hoped Brightpaw would gain more confidence as he grew up, but it was false hope. He never did.

"Should we go get some fresh-kill?" Swiftpaw suggested. The apprentices agreed and picked out a rabbit for the four of them to share. They gathered around the rabbit and all took bites out of it.

"I've never felt this sore before," Goldenpaw said stretching his paws. "Well, at least this rabbit's nice."

"I was kind of hoping Brightpaw would share this with us," Dawnpaw said sadly.

"He's talking with Swanfeather, just let it go," Quickpaw sighed.

"Quickpaw, he's my brother, I want to bond with him, Goldenpaw and I hardly talked to him when we were kits, I don't even know what his favorite color is," Dawnpaw said.

"Do you know mine?" Goldenpaw quizzed, his voice confident that he would stump his sister.

"Of course, it's green," Dawnpaw responded almost immediately.

"Well, he'll talk when he's ready, it's no use rushing him," Swiftpaw said. He pushed himself against Dawnpaw comforting her.

"So, are we going to finish the rabbit?" the apprentices devoured the rabbit. The sun was just setting. They padded over to the spot where the apprentices slept and chose spots to sleep in. Dawnpaw noticed out of the corner of her eye Brightpaw was coming over.

"Hi Brightpaw," she said merrily.

The apprentice looked at her then back down at the ground. He chose a moss nest a few fox lengths from the rest of the apprentices and warriors. He prepared to go to sleep and stretched. Dawnpaw turned her head and let out yawn happily lying down to go to sleep. Her muscles ached as she slept, the apprentices, minus Brightpaw, had been training all day. She was in a world of soreness; she just hoped she would be ready for another day after today.

~oOo~

Dawnpaw woke up to Swiftpaw nudging her. "Swafethr, I dowt wanna wak up," she muttered rolling away from the black tom.

"Dawnpaw, it's time to wake up, we're going with Dewdrop and Foxseeker on Dawn Patrol," the tom said. Dawnpaw opened her eyes.

"Alright, I'm getting up," Dawnpaw yawned. The sun had hardly risen when she reported to Dewdrop and Foxseeker.

"Finally, I thought you weren't coming, you did get extra sleep yesterday," her mentor said.

"Yeah, but, I was kind of hoping that I would get a little more," Dawnpaw yawned loudly.

"Shh, you'll wake up the rest of the camp," Dewdrop warned.

"Sorry," Dawnpaw uttered. The patrol left camp. They began to head towards the ThunderClan border.

"Do you think Brightpaw will become warriors with us, or, will he stay an apprentice a little longer?"

"Of course he'll become warriors with us," Dawnpaw said, "He just needs a little encouragement and practice."

"I'd want to believe that Dawnpaw, but he's just, I'm just saying, it's just best not for us to get our hopes up." Swiftpaw looked into Dawnpaw's amber eyes with his green eyes, "It's just, so far, he's not progressing like the rest of us, he's a bit, slow."

"Swiftpaw, he's my brother, no matter what, I'll always have faith in him," she said.

"Alright, just saying, don't get your hopes up," Swiftpaw said. They reached the border. The remarked the borders and Dawnpaw bent down to lap a few drops of water from the stream. She dipped her paws in to wash them.

"Get your paws out of our stream!" shouted a cat. Dawnpaw jumped, startled. She looked up and was facing an apprentice from ThunderClan.

He had a light ginger pelt with very messy fur and cold gray eyes. "I-I'm sorry, I was just washing my paws," Dawnpaw apologized quickly.

"Yes, you were, in _our_ stream!"

"Look, it doesn't seem so harmful, I just dipped my paws into the water, and besides, you can't exactly mark the stream as part of your territory," Dawnpaw said calmly.

"If we let one WindClan cat wash her paws, then the rest of WindClan will do the same, be sides you could be at the lake washing your paws," he hissed.

"Alright, I'll just leave," Dawnpaw said giving the tom a strange look and walked away.

"What was that about?" Swiftpaw asked walking up to Dawnpaw.

"Oh nothing, just a ThunderClan apprentice mad I'd washed my paws in the stream," Dawnpaw dismissed the question.

"Hmm, well, he did seem mad," Swiftpaw said.

"Really now, I thought he was happy I was washing my paws, he must have really cared about me," Dawnpaw said sarcastically.

Swiftpaw chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Well, we've remarked the borders," Foxseeker said, "It's time to head back to camp." The cats moved and padded back to camp and noticed Goldenpaw, Quickpaw and Brightpaw with Silverstorm and Spottedriver. Brightpaw was stalking a rabbit. Dawnpaw felt her stomach tie to knots as she prayed for her brother. _Would this be the first piece of fresh kill he would catch?_ she thought. He crept closer, the rabbit's ears twitched and it ran Brightpaw had a heartbeat of hesitation, then, he jumped forward clumsily landing on the rabbit slightly and scraping his shoulder on the ground. Goldenpaw took an opportunity to catch the rabbit and dashed forward to cut the rabbit off and bit down on its neck instantly killing it. Brightpaw got back up and limped back over to Silverstorm. Dawnpaw sighed, _Someday he'll catch something, but today is not that day_, she thought.

The Dawn Patrol padded over. "Nice job stalking," Foxseeker complimented Brightpaw. He continued to look down.

"I still didn't catch it," he mumbled.

"Nonsense, you just need more practice, you have potential," Dewdrop encouraged him. "Though next time, don't hesitate, just do, a heartbeat of distraction could mean life or death in battle or the Clan being full or starving in Leaf Bare," Silverstorm jabbed Dewdrop who then jerked his head at his apprentice.

Brightpaw was now nervous and shaking, "Uh, of course, you're just an apprentice, so, it's, uh, no pressure," Dewdrop said quickly trying to calm down the apprentice.

"But, I can't hunt? I can't fight either, what use am I?" he whispered.

"Brightpaw, everyone progresses at their own rate," Spottedriver said. "I remember Silverstorm had to have a moon of practice before he even caught a piece of prey," Silverstorm shot a look at the she-cat.

"I thought we weren't going to speak about that," he whispered.

"_And_ we all laughed when it was a scrawny field mouse that turned out to still be alive!" I let a small chuckle escape my mouth. Swiftpaw did the same. Brightpaw let out a small chuckle, it wasn't very loud or last very long, but still, it was a chuckle, and Brightpaw never really laughed. Dewdrop seemed relieved.

Swiftpaw, Dawnpaw, Dewdrop and Foxseeker returned to camp. "Go have a bit of fresh kill," Dewdrop said. The two apprentices laughed as their stomachs growled at the same time.

The apprentices picked a plump field mouse and lay down to share it. "How do you feel about the training so far, you and Goldenpaw have already caught up to us," Swiftpaw said taking a small bit of the mouse.

"Well, it was okay, but, I'm sure the two of you will become warriors before Goldenpaw, Brightpaw and I, you are a moon and half older," Dawnpaw said.

Swiftpaw inched closer, "I'd stay an apprentice with you until we _both_ became warriors at the same time," Dawnpaw smiled.

"You know you'd rather be a warrior," she responded.

"Yes, but, what's the point of being a warrior if I don't have any of my friends to talk to?"

"You're being dramatic you mouse-brain, you'd probably just have to wait a moon until I become a warrior," Dawnpaw said rolling her eyes. The dark tom laughed.

"Yes," he continued, "but, you'd have training and I'd hardly get to see you or your siblings, other than my sister, you're my friends, my sister's too annoying," Swiftpaw explained.

"I know, but she's your sister, how would you like it if Quickpaw called you annoying?"

"Honestly I wouldn't care; she thinks she's so much better just because she was born first."

"You know, that's exactly how Goldenpaw is." Dawnpaw mocked her brother, "Oh, I'm older, oh, I'm stronger, blah, blah, blah," she said in a mocking tone. She took a bite of the mouse.

"Leaf Fall's coming soon," Swiftpaw said.

It was true, Green Leaf was short, now; Leaf Fall and Leaf Bare would be long and harsh. Dawnpaw could already feel the cold winds. "We'll be fine, we just have to our wits, and not not rolling around in the snow," she playfully batted Swiftpaw's ears.

"Hey," Swiftpaw said. The two laughed. "Well, we'll have to learn how to deal with little food."

"I'll miss not having food, though, the Clan does come first," Dawnpaw sighed.

"Hey, I'm the best hunter there, I'll find us food," Swiftpaw said.

"Sure, we'll see," Dawnpaw rolled her eyes. The two shared tongues at least, until it was time to train. The two of them let out a groan and made a mental note to continue the conversation again after training, that is, if they weren't sore afterwards.


	6. Chapter 5

Brightpaw was still trying to catch a bit of prey. Goldenpaw, Quickpaw, Silverstorm and Spottedriver had already gotten their prey, now, they were waiting on Brightpaw. He was carefully stalking field mouse. Silverstorm had suggested he start out small, then, work his way up to something larger. He was carefully getting closer. He reared his hind legs ready to pounce and leaped. The mouse had heard him. It was agile and darted to the side causing Brightpaw to land on the ground and on his face.

"That was the third mouse I've tried to catch," he said sadly.

"Well, we can't wait any longer; it's time we headed back." Silverstorm led the patrol back to camp and once again, Brightpaw was empty-pawed **[A/N: Pawed, Handed? IDK]**. Goldenpaw nudged his brother who looking half-heartedly at his paws.

"You'll get something next time," Goldenpaw said.

"Sure I will, and my name's Longwhiskers," Brightpaw sarcastically in a small voice. **[A/N: That seemed a bit OOC for Brightpaw, he probably shouldn't use sarcasm]**

"You just need a bit more practice," Goldenpaw tried to cheer up his brother.

"Goldenpaw, I-I just don't feel good," Brightpaw was always discouraged from taking prey, after all, he never caught any, he felt as if he wasn't helping the Clan.

"A-Are you okay? Should I go get Cloudheart?"

"No, no," Brightpaw said nervously and quickly. "I just feel like I'm taking prey that's not mine, I never catch any, yet, I eat."

"Well, I mean, fresh kill is what keeps us from dying," Goldenpaw said.

"Really, then I'd rather die that live like a clumsy, lazy, apprentice who doesn't help his own Clan," Brightpaw muttered look away from his brother.

"Brightpaw, I'd hunt for the rest of my life if that meant keeping you _alive_! You're my brother, I can't imagine what I would do if you died, let alone Oakstar," Goldenpaw said harshly.

"I just, I, I'm not sure I want to be a warrior," Brightpaw mumbled.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Goldenpaw asked his brother.

"I'm, j-just, not really sure, I don't know," Brightpaw responded softly. Goldenpaw strained to hear Brightpaw, Brightpaw was always quiet, sometimes too quiet.

"I wish I could help," Goldenpaw said, and the hunting patrol entered camp.

"How was the hunting?" Raggedpelt asked.

"Great, two hares, a field mouse, and a plump rabbit," Silverstorm reported.

Raggedpelt blinked, "That's four pieces of fresh kill, I though you said you were taking five cats," then, Raggedpelt noticed Brightpaw. "Never mind," Brightpaw flinched.

"Why don't you two take some fresh kill to the elders and Poppytail?" Silverstorm suggested.

Goldenpaw nodded happily. Brightpaw and Goldenpaw both padded over to the fresh kill pile. Goldenpaw grabbed a field mouse, Brightpaw grabbed a hare. The two apprentices headed to the nursery.

"Poppytail, we have some fresh kill," Goldenpaw mumbled though the mouse.

She lifted her head, "Oh, thank you, it's hard to eat for yourself and kits," she laughed.

Goldenpaw dropped the mouse next to her, "Alright, off to the elder's den!" Goldenpaw ran to the old badger set where the elders stayed.

Brightpaw made it to the den, "See, we brought you a nice hare," Goldenpaw said happily. Brightpaw dropped the hare next to the elders.

"Thank you, you know, I love hare the most, it just tastes better," Cedarear smiled.

"Brightpaw, you'll make an excellent warrior one day, you know just how to make your elders happy," Flowerfur said grinning.

"Th-Thank you," Brightpaw said almost happily, almost.

The apprentices padded out of the elders den and rested near the hill that overlooked WindClan camp. "Brightpaw are you okay?" Goldenpaw said noticing his brother's eyes staring into the air.

"I'm, I'm fine," Brightpaw said immediately looking down.

"What are you worried about?"

"Nothing, nothing too important, why don't you ask Silverstorm if you could eat, I'm not that hungry," Brightpaw muttered.

"Okay, but, if you need anything, just ask." Goldenpaw padded away. Brighpaw then looked away from the camp. He was never going to be warrior. He was terrible. He then rested his head into his paws. Then, if he could've, he would have bursted into tears.

He was an awful apprentice; he didn't know what to do. It was the warriors that kept the Clan going, but Brightpaw was never going to be a successful warrior, he couldn't even defend his own clan, he was a horrible fighter. He was too small and too shy.

"Brightpaw," he heard a voice call. It was soft and light. "Goldenpaw told me you would be up here." Swanfeather padded over to her son, she then rested her flank near him, like she did when he was a kit. Then, she noticed him shaking. "Brightpaw, a-are you okay?" she asked. She draped her tail over his back.

"I'm never going to be a warrior," he muttered softly.

"Nonsense, you'll make an excellent warrior," Swanfeather said harshly to her son, making sure he got the message.

"I can't fight, I can't hunt, for StarClan's sake, I can't even please my leader!" he wailed.

"Brightpaw," Swanfeather said in a sharp tone, "Oakstar, is not your leader." Swanfeather continued, putting emphasis on her voice, "He. Is. Your. _Father_. Nothing will ever change that, you need to understand that, you need to stop treating him like a leader and more like a father, it's what he wants," Swanfeather explained, "Brightpaw, he doesn't even know the color of your eyes! You're always staring at your own paws, please, just let him see you as a son."

Brightpaw looked at Swanfeather. "I-I, just can't," Brightpaw looked back down. Swanfeather sighed.

_In time, _she thought, _in time._ She licked Brightpaw's ears. Brightpaw relaxed. It was just like when he was a kit. He loved Swanfeather, more than any cat possibly knew, Swanfeather was mother, but more than a mother, no; their bond was set in stone, not even StarClan, the Dark Forest, or twolegs could separate the two.. Brightpaw heard padding and I saw the brown paws of Oakstar. He tensed up.

"Oakstar, do you need something?" Swanfeather asked.

"I just wanted to see what you were doing," he mewed.

"Well, I'm fine, Brightpaw, say hi to your father," Swanfeather told the apprentice.

"H-Hello, O-Oakstar," he said staring down at the leader's paws.

"Brightpaw, look him in the eyes," Brightpaw slowly lifted his head. Oakstar's stomach tightened.

_Was this it? __I'll finally know! His eyes are,_ the leader thought **[drumroll]**. Then, Brightpaw looked back down. _Fox dung!_

"Well, Brightpaw, it's time you go train," Oakstar said and considered licking Brightpaw's ears to show affection, but decided against it. Brightpaw rose shakily.

"Bye Swanfeather," he muttered and quickly left.

~oOo~

"Argh!" he hit the ground. Brightpaw groaned and got up. He was still trying the Front Paw Blow. He got up and tried again, his weight shifted forward and he fell again, this time, hitting his nose. His shoulder hurt along his with nose, muzzle, front paws, and hind legs. He winced as he got back up.

"Try it again," Silverstorm said.

Brightpaw shook and tried, but his legs buckled and he hit the ground. He moaned in pain. Silverstorm looked worriedly at his apprentice.

"Brightpaw?"

"Argh, need, C-Cloud-h-heart," he moaned.

"Alright, let's go," Silverstorm carried Brightpaw by the scruff back to camp and into the medicine den. Cloudheart's green eyes betrayed a sense of frustration with the apprentice, in the last half-moon he was an apprentice, had been to her den five times.

"Silverstorm, Brightpaw again," she sighed, she eyed the apprentice, "set him down." Silverstorm nodded and set Brightpaw carefully on the moss nest and left.

"Alright, what now, what hurts?"

"I-I have a sprained shoulder and paws, my hind legs are sore, my nose and muzzle are bruised," Brightpaw said rather quickly and silently. Cloudheart blinked, that was a rather, informative, answer.

"Alright, now, let's see, poppy, a bit of coltsfoot, comfrey, where'd I put that?"

"Over to the left," Brightpaw whispered.

Cloudheart's ears pricked, she did as Brightpaw suggested and found the herb in the crevice. Cloudheart shook the poppy bell, but no seeds came out. "Fox dung, I'm out of poppy seeds," Brightpaw glanced over to the crevice.

"Raspberry leaves might work," he uttered.

"Good idea!" Cloudheart set the raspberry leaves, coltsfoot, and comfrey down. Brightpaw ate the raspberry and coltsfoot while Cloudheart applied the comfrey to his shoulder and hind paws.

"Oh, that feels a lot better," Brightpaw said relieved.

"How did you know to use raspberry leaves or where the comfrey was?" Cloudheart asked intrigued.

"W-Well, the times I was here, I saw you put the comfrey in the wrong spot and well, the raspberry leaves, you used for bee stings, so why not as a replacement for poppy?" Brightpaw said nervously.

"Well, you seem good enough, take a break before you go and train again." Cloudheart dismissed the apprentice who limped slowly out of the den. She stared after him. _That was strange, he seemed to pick up the things I did around in the den rather quickly… _She then took another look at the catmint Brightpaw found, _No, it couldn't be_, she thought. She looked at the leaves. The leaves, they were shaped like, like…

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, got another chapter in! Great, though, I don't think I'll be uploading as much, I've got classes I've got to worry about. I plan on keeping a Straight A average all through high school and Pre-AP classes are already cramming their way into my schedule, just wait until I take an AP class, and considering half of my classes are Pre-AP. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. <strong>


	7. Chapter 6

They were shaped like, like… a cat paw. The catmint, the color was brighter, Brightpaw had found it. Brightpaw, Cloudheart had to see him right away. She padded out of the medicine den. She saw Brightpaw sitting in the clearing staring off into space. "Brightpaw, can I see you for a moment?"

The apprentice slowly got up. He padded over, "What's wrong?" he asked silently.

"Nothing, I just need to ask you something," the apprentice followed her into the den. She pulled out a dock leaf. "What is this?"

"It's a dock leaf, you use it for sore and cracked pads," Cloudheart nodded.

"What's this?" Cloudheart had goldenrod in her paws.

"Goldenrod, it's only found on the WindClan moors, it stops bleeding, and helps closes up wounds, if it doesn't work then you combine it with marigold or horsetail to make a poultice." Cloudheart was stunned; Brightpaw hadn't been in here too long.

"Last question, what is this?" she pulled out yarrow; she had never used it near Brightpaw. Brightpaw tilted his head confused.

He sniffed it, "That smells like something you use to make a cat regurgitate fresh kill!" Brightpaw said in disgust. Cloudheart nodded again.

"That is all." Brightpaw then left while Cloudheart raced out of her den to find Oakstar. He was with Swanfeather. "Oakstar, Oakstar!" Cloudheart called quickly.

"Yes? Do you need something?" the leader turned around.

"It's Brightpaw," she began taking a deep breath.

Swanfeather looked at the medicine cat extremely worried, "What's wrong, did he break something?"

"No, he's not meant to be warrior!"

"What?" Oakstar said stunned.

"No, he's only been in my den five times and he knows Oakstar, he knows he herbs and what they do, er, at least what they do, even with herbs he's never seen before! He even suggested herbs to me, Oakstar, don't you see?"

Swanfeather gasped, "It makes more sense, he's good with helping the elders, his paws are too clumsy to fight but perfect for herb collecting…"

"Oakstar, the catmint Brightpaw found, it was in the shape of paws and it was a brighter color, Bright, paw!" Cloudheart said as if putting his name together, "He was never meant to be a warrior, but a medicine cat!"

"Hmm, well, we will talk to him about it," Oakstar murmured. He padded over the Brightpaw who was resting in the clearing. The leader seemed to talk to his son, and Brightpaw, staring at his paws followed the leader and Silverstorm followed Oakstar after being tapped on the shoulder. "Brightpaw, there is something we want to talk to you about," Oakstar began,

"Y-Yes?" Brightpaw mewed nervously.

"Brightpaw, are you content with being warrior apprentice?" Oakstar asked.

"W-Well, it's hard, but y-yes," he obviously lied, every cat could tell, Brightpaw was a terrible liar.

"Brightpaw, don't lie to Oakstar," Silverstorm scolded his apprentice.

"W-Well, no, I don't, it's hard, I hurt myself, I can't fight or hunt, I-I can't do anything for WindClan," he corrected, his voice slowly getting quieter.

"Brightpaw, if you really feel this way, and, that catmint you found, I think it's an omen," Cloudheart began.

"W-What?" the apprentice was shocked.

"You found it, it was perfect, the dew had burned off, it smelled the best, it was the most vivid color and the leaves were shaped like paws, Brightpaw, if you want, you could try being a medicine cat apprentice," Brightpaw considered this, to him, it didn't seem any worse than being a warrior apprentice.

"Y-Yes, I'd like to," the apprentice nodded.

"When are we going to tell the Clan?" Silverstorm asked.

"We'll tell them after Brightpaw attempts to be a medicine cat apprentice, if he excels at it _and_ likes it," Oakstar said, "he'll stay a medicine cat, if not, he will return to you to finish his warrior training," Cloudheart nodded. She then took Brightpaw to her den.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the short chapter... really didn't know how to continue it, but I am hoping to make up for it in the next chapter. Brightpaw's a medicine cat now, yep, was planning this all along. You'll be meeting the medicine cats of the other Clans soon, trust me. In the mean time, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. <strong>

**Brightpaw: Wait, you _planned_ for me to become a medicine cat?**

**HWGTW: Uh, yes.**

**Brightpaw: Why?**

**HWGTW: Because, I'm you projected in this story and I wanted you to be a medicine cat.**

**Brightpaw: ...**

**HWGTW: Besides do you enjoy it?**

**Brightpaw: ...We'll see.**


	8. Chapter 7: 5 Days Later

Brightpaw was happily settling into his position as medicine cat apprentice, though, it had not been made official yet. He was sorting through the herbs in the den, separating the older herbs from the newer ones, making sure they were neat and organized. Cloudheart, who had been quietly observing from the corner, waved him over. "Brightpaw, it's time."

"Really," the to-be-apprentice asked, "already?

The two padded out of the medicine den. Oakstar was waiting. "It's time, he's accepted it."

Oakstar jumped up on TallRock. "Let all cats old enough to hunt gather under TallRock for a Clan meeting!" his voice rang out.

"What's wrong?" Tallstripe asked.

"Did something happen?" Dawnpaw asked.

"No, I am here to announce a new apprentice."

"New apprentice, Poppytail's kits aren't due for another half-moon!" Honeyfur protested.

"Cloudheart?" the leader called, and the dull white she-cat spoke up.

"Cats of WindClan, as you know, I will not be around forever," Cloudheart said slowly as she climbed to the top of TallRock. "So I have decided to take on an apprentice." The cats of WindClan stared at her. "I have chosen a cat who has shown great wisdom and compassion, your next medicine cat will be… Brightpaw," she announced. Brightpaw, somewhat overwhelmed, joined Cloudheart and Oakstar.

"Brightpaw do you accept do you accept the post of being an apprentice to Cloudheart?"

"I do," Brightpaw said confidently, albeit quietly.

"Then at the half-moon, you must travel to the Moonpool to be accepted by StarClan before the other medicine cats," Cloudheart told him, smiling reassuringly.

"The good wishes of all WindClan will go with you." Brightpaw touched noses with Cloudheart and looked at the Clan with a look of happiness. He had found his place in the Clan. He leapt down, and was quickly joined by Goldenpaw and Dawnpaw.

"So, my little brother is a medicine cat apprentice?" Goldenpaw asked, playfully batting his sibling's ear.

"Yep! I'm really happy about it. It's much easier than fighting or hunting and I'll actually be helping the Clan," Goldenpaw seemed happy, at least now Brightpaw won't feel bad about taking fresh kill.

Dawnpaw giggled, "I haven't seen you this happy ever since…" she paused to think, "ever actually."

It was true, the once shy warrior apprentice was more confident in his healing abilities than his fighting ability. Oakstar padded over with Swanfeather. "I'm so happy you finally found what you want to do," Swanfeather licked Brightpaw's ear.

Oakstar wanted to say something, but couldn't find the right words, then, laid his tail across the pale gray apprentice's shoulder. Brightpaw looked at him. Oakstar sighed, he wish he had, wait a minute, looked at him, Oakstar's amber eyes stared straight into Brightpaw's river blue eyes. "Your eyes, they're like your mother's!" the leader proclaimed happily. He happily nudged the apprentice on the head.

"I think I'm ready to try now, I think I'm ready to talk to you now," Brightpaw said quite sheepishly.

"Oh, I still can't get over the fact that for the first time in moons I know what color your eyes are!" Oakstar exclaimed. "They're just as beautiful as your mother's!"

Brightpaw chuckled, "I know," he said silently. "I have to get back to the medicine den now." The apprentice padded to the den continuing his task of sorting through the herbs while mentally reviewing what they did, _Yarrow to induce vomiting, Thyme for shock and energy, Goldenrod to stop bleeding, and Juniper Berries for stomach aches_. He carefully set the herbs into small bundles.

"Good job," his new mentor congratulated.

"Thank you, I've sorted the herbs, they're all organized and ready to use," the apprentice explained.

"You seem much happier as a medicine cat than a warrior."

"Well, being a warrior was too difficult for me, but I didn't like not helping the Clan, and as a medicine cat, I can finally help the Clan."

"Well, now, we need to go collect a bit of feverfew, we're running low and it's getting closer to Leaf Bare, and if you can show me that patch of catmint, we should collect some while we still can." Brightpaw nodded and followed Cloudheart out of the medicine den.

"Cloudheart, Brightpaw," Raggedpelt greeted the two, "Where are you going?

"Just to collect some catmint," Cloudheart responded.

"Hmm, that'd be good, Leaf Fall's coming. Well, I wish you luck in collecting your herbs," the deputy nodded respectfully.

The two cats left the camp. "Now, where was this patch of catmint?"

"Over here!" Brightpaw bounded over to the tree on WindClan territory. Next to it was the catmint. Cloudheart came over.

"Hmm, we'll have to make sure this patch doesn't die now, so we need to find a way to protect it from the Leaf Bare winds."

"I have an idea!" Brightpaw scraped a bit of moss off of the tree and ran towards the stream. He dipped the moss ball and in the stream. Then, scraped more moss off of the tree. He then came back over to Cloudheart. He settled the moss, a ball, no larger than the size of his nose, in the center of the catmint, then, the rest of the moss close to the catmint.

"Good idea, this way they'll get water to grow, and stay protected from the Leaf Bare winds; if we take care of this patch, we should have no trouble with greencough in the future," Cloudheart purred.

"Thank you," Brightpaw said.

"We should collect some of the catmint," Cloudheart said as the two carefully took a few strands of the herb. The patch wasn't large, but, by the end, they had a small bundle, about six small strands. Cloudheart stopped to grab a bit of feverfew. The two cats returned to the camp. Brightpaw quickly returned to the medicine den and put away the feverfew, carefully setting it with the rest.

"Alright, that should enough," Cloudheart said.

"Let's see, there's feverfew, good for fevers, catmint, good for greencough, coltsfoot for coughs, tansy for whitecough," Brightpaw explained.

"Good, that's great, you've been progressing really well," Cloudheart purred.

"Thank you," Brightpaw said merrily. Brightpaw smelled fresh-kill. "Hare?"

"What, what are you talking about?" Cloudheart said.

"I smell hare and," Brightpaw took another sniff, "Swiftpaw." Then, as if on cue, Swiftpaw walked into the den with a juicy hare.

"Dewdrop told me to bring you two some fresh kill," the apprentice explained.

"Thank you," Cloudheart said as she took the hare. Swiftpaw left. "How did you smell him so far away?"

"I don't know, I just did," Brightpaw said.

"Well, it seems you have a keen nose, that'll be great for finding herbs later," his mentor mewed. Brightpaw grinned happily.

* * *

><p><strong>So, another Chapter, Brightpaw's going to be a medicine cat! Yay! Also, I'm going to have my friend (my partner in Grammar Crime) proof read my chapters. Honestly they're great at grammar and all that other stuff. He typically catches things I don't, but, his vocabulary's different from mine. So, yeah... not much else to say. <strong>

**Brightpaw: Being a medicine cat is so fun!**

**HWGTW: I told you so.**

**Brightpaw: I know, but didn't you...**

**HWGTW: Shush! Apparently I need to tell you what spoilers are!**

**Cloudheart: Can I have my apprentice back now?**

**HWGTW: Not now! I'm going to explain to him what spoilers are!**


	9. Chapter 8

Swiftpaw woke up with his flank pushed up against Dawnpaw's. He felt embarrassed as he wondered what Dawnpaw would say when she woke up. The darker gray-brown she-cat began to stir. She opened her eyes and stood up and yawned, then, noticed that Swiftpaw was pushed up against her.

"I'msorryIdidn'tmeanttosleepagainstyoulikethat!" Swiftpaw shouted jumping back, his words stumbling over each other.

"Calm down," Dawnpaw said rolling her eyes.

"Sorry," Swiftpaw said sheepishly.

"Well, I guess we should go see what we're doing today," Dawnpaw mewed. The two apprentices stretched and padded over to Raggedpelt.

"Raggedpelt, are Honeyfur and Foxseeker awake yet?"

"Actually, they were on Dawn Patrol, but, if I remember, I think Ravenwhisker was in charge of your training today."

"Okay, thanks!" the two apprentices approached Ravenwhisker. He licked Honeyfur's ears. "Are Ravenwhisker and Honeyfur mates?" Dawnpaw asked curiously.

"I don't know, but, it's been going that way for a long time," Ravenwhisker padded over to the two apprentices.

"Ready to begin training?" he asked his voice strict.

"Of course," Dawnpaw said, leaping enthusiastically.

Ravenwhisker narrowed his golden eyes. "Watch your step, just because you're Oakstar's kit doesn't mean I'll go easy on you," Ravenwhisker warned. Ravenwhisker led the two apprentices down to the lake. "Today we'll be practicing how to successfully defeat an opponent, as in, sending them running away from you in terror."

"Cool!" Swiftpaw said happily.

"Alright, now, let me ask, how would _you_ send a warrior running?"

"Well, I would claw at them until they gave up and ran away," Dawnpaw said confidently.

"Wrong, that's would be a good way to send them running _if_ you had the upper hand, but, in this situation, the cat is larger than you and is in perfect condition."

"How about taking a few decisive attacks at them?" Swiftpaw suggested.

"Good, the best way, is to use the Front Paw Blow on them, which will cause them to be distracted for a brief moment. Use that brief moment, what you do?"

"Uh, pounce on them knocking them over then, claw their fur off?" Dawnpaw said in a question like tone scared of disappointing the senior warrior..

"That's one way, but, you'd be wasting your energy, in a battle, you want to be more fit than your opponent," Ravenwhisker said in an almost scolding tone. Dawnpaw's tail drooped.

"Jump on their backs?" Swiftpaw answered with a bit of confidence.

"Yes, they can't attack you if you're on their back, what you do is that you attack them from behind, make light scratches, everywhere," Ravenwhisker explained.

The apprentices practiced the strategy on Ravenwhisker, Swiftpaw being the most successful. Dawnpaw however, seemed intent on clawing (at least doing so with sheathed claws) Ravenwhisker.

"No," Ravenwhisker scolded, "You have to _conserve_ your energy; you can defeat one cat like that, then another enemy can come in and defeat you," Dawnpaw cringed.

The two apprentices were padding back to the camp while Swiftpaw was deciding how to talk to Dawnpaw. He had liked her for a while; there was something about her eagerness that he liked. He noticed out of the corner of his eyes Goldenpaw and Brightpaw sharing tongues, he decided to pad over to ask for advice.

"Hello Swiftpaw," Goldenpaw greeted the older apprentice.

"Hi Goldenpaw, Brightpaw, I was just wondering, if, uh, you, could, ahem," Brightpaw tilted his head.

"Well, spit it out," he urged.

"If there's any way I could you know, cheer up Dawnpaw?" Swiftpaw asked sheepishly.

"You like our sister don't you?" Goldenpaw said a large grin growing on his face.

"What? Well, maybe, just, answer my question," Swiftpaw's fur was hot with embarrassment.

"Well, you could try just talking to her, normally, if you take her mind off of something, she'll typically feel better if you distract her," Brightpaw explained.

"Uh, thanks, and, please don't tell Dawnpaw," Swiftpaw pleaded.

"Hmm, alright," Goldenpaw responded. Swiftpaw quickly padded over to Dawnpaw.

"Uh, hey, Dawnpaw, what's your favorite kind of fresh kill?"

"Well," she thought about it, "I like rabbit the most, I don't know why but I like the way it's a bit tougher than the rest of fresh kill."

"Really, I honestly like field mice, it's a bit more tender and soft," Swiftpaw replied his mouth watering.

"I know, but field mice are just, small," Dawnpaw responded.

"Well, fresh kill is fresh kill," Swiftpaw sighed.

"But, I would like a larger piece, more fresh kill feeds more of the Clan," Dawnpaw explained.

"It does, doesn't it?"

Dawnpaw shuddered, Swiftpaw did the same, it was getting colder, and Leaf Fall was nearly here. He felt his stomach tighten. He felt worried, what if Dawnpaw got greencough? He dismissed it. _You're being silly,_ he thought,_ Brightpaw'll save her, he won't let his sister die_. Though, he couldn't help but feel worried. "Swiftpaw, are you cold?" she edged closer to Swiftpaw, her pelt pushing against his. Swiftpaw's pelt prickled.

"Uh, yeah kind of," he pushed himself a little closer to Dawnpaw, though, daring not to go too far. He enjoyed being close to Dawnpaw taking in her sweet scent as it flooded through his nose.

"Dawnpaw!" a sharp voice cut through their peace and quiet, it was Oakstar.

"Yes?" Dawnpaw asked respectfully to her father.

"I need you to take some fresh kill to your mother, she seems a little sick."

"I am not sick," Swanfeather protested.

"Swanfeather, I told you to stay in the medicine den," Oakstar said worriedly.

"Honestly I'm fine, it was just a little cough," Swanfeather rolled her eyes. "I can't cough any more without you worrying about me?"

"No, I just, I just don't want you to get seriously sick; please will you just go to Cloudheart? Please, do it for me?"

Swanfeather sighed in defeat, "Alright fine," Swanfeather padded towards the medicine den. Swiftpaw felt a slight twinge of disappointment as Dawnpaw left to go get a nice field mouse for her mother. Swiftpaw sadly waited for Dawnpaw to return.

* * *

><p><strong>Another Chapter yay! I've actually got quite a few on stand-by, but, I guess you're all assuming Swiftpaw x Dawnpaw, but don't be so sure. You'll never know what kind of plot twists I'll throw in. :D<strong>

**Swiftpaw: Wait, wait, wait, so I'm not going to be mates with Dawnpaw? T_T**

**Guide (my friend, CaitlynBug1 shortened my name for me. Thanks... err, I don't have a shorter one for you): Well, I didn't say that.**

**Swiftpaw: So I will be mates with her? Oh, I can imagine what we'll be naming our kits! :D**

**Guide: I didn't say that either.**

**Swiftpaw: So, my entire relationship with Dawnpaw rests on your paws? **

**Guide: Yep.**

**Swiftpaw: *Pounces* You will let our relationship progress.**

**Guide: We'll see. *Wink***

**Swiftpaw: *hisses* Did you just wink?**

**Guide: *Gulp* N-no. _StarClan help me.__  
><em>**


	10. Chapter 9

Brightpaw waited with Cloudheart at the stream near ThunderClan that led to the Moonpool. "Now, when we get there, once I finish your medicine cat ceremony, we will all lap up a few drops of water from the Moonpool and go to sleep. We will then share tongues with StarClan. Once that is over, we will wake up and we cannot tell anyone about our dreams, do you understand?"

Brightpaw nodded briskly. Brightpaw saw two cats approach them. One was an older cat, she had dark gray fur and blue eyes while the other cat had very light ginger fur, almost looking pink with amber eyes. "Cloudheart," the older cat greeted.

"Bluestream," Bluestream gestured to Brightpaw who cringed back. "This is Brightpaw, my apprentice."

"The clumsy one, right?" she asked, "He became your apprentice?"

"Yes, he showed great potential," Cloudheart explained.

"Well, nice to meet you Brightpaw, this is my apprentice Lilypaw, she's not much older than you, this is her first time here, she was apprenticed four sunrises ago," Bluestream explained.

"Hi," Lilypaw said quietly to Brightpaw, his river blue eyes meeting with her beautiful amber eyes.

"Hello," Brightpaw replied with the same volume.

"Both shy eh?" Cloudheart chuckled. Brightpaw cracked a small grin that then faded. Bluestream sat down beside Cloudheart and Lilypaw next to her. Then, another pair of cats arrived; they smelled of the swamp that made Brightpaw recoil slightly. "Silentsong, Amberpaw," Cloudheart dipped her head in a greeting.

Silentsong and Amberpaw did the same, "Glad to meet you." Amberpaw nodded and finally the last medicine cat emerged with his apprentice. It was a tom, he was obviously very old as his fur was turning gray. His apprentice was a she-cat with light brown fur and stripes all over her body.

Silentsong acknowledged him. He nodded. The eight medicine cats and apprentices began to pad upstream. Amberpaw began to speak to the younger apprentices.

"Just apprenticed I assume," she stated.

"Uh, yes, I was apprenticed technically five sunrises ago but, it wasn't made official to the clan until yesterday," Brightpaw said silently.

"I was just apprenticed four sunrises ago," Lilypaw responded.

"Well, being apprenticed for five moons so far, I can say, being a medicine cat apprentice is tough, but has its own rewards," Amberpaw began, "It's hard to make sure you use the right herbs and poultices, sometimes we don't have enough herbs, though, that's not really a problem for ShadowClan right now."

"Really, why?" Lilypaw asked.

"Well, right now, we don't really have many warriors, but kits are on the way, though, some of them will be born during Leaf Bare," Amberpaw said solemnly.

"Oh, well, do you have thyme and borage leaves?" Brightpaw asked.

"Well, er, yes," Amberpaw responded surprised.

"Give it to the queens, the thyme will give them strength and the borage will help them produce more milk for their kits even with little food,"Brightpaw explained, "Then ragwort could be given to the kits as a poultice to soothe the aches that the cold winds will cause."

"I-I never thought of that," Amberpaw said silently.

"Wow, you know so much already," Lilypaw said surprised.

"When I was a warrior apprentice," Brightpaw felt his fur tingle with embarrassment, "I got sent to the medicine den a lot and eventually, it just seemed clear what herbs were what, at least, the basic ones, then, I picked up on the others rather quickly."

"Impressive," Amberpaw said, "You were a warrior apprentice? Why did you become a medicine cat apprentice?"

"Well, I was a bit to clumsy to be a warrior, but I seemed to be good at medicine cat duties and StarClan sent Cloudheart a sign and I became her apprentice." They reached the Moonpool and the cats settled around the pool of water. Brightpaw was next to Cloudheart, Lilypaw next to Bluestream, Amberpaw next to Silentsong with ThunderClan's medicine cat and his apprentice next to Silentsong.

Bluestream cleared her throat. "Lilypaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?"

"It is," Lilypaw said immediately.

"Then come forward," Lilypaw and Bluestream came closer to the Moonpool. "Warriors of StarClan, I present to you with this apprentice. She has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant her your wisdom and insight so that she may understand your ways and heal her Clan in accordance with your will." Lilypaw bent her head down and lapped a few drops of water from the pool and laid down.

Then, Cloudheart spoke, she turned to her apprentice, "Brightpaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?"

Brightpaw hesitated, then, _It's the only thing I'm good at_, he thought, "Yes, it is," he replied half-heartedly. Why did he respond so weakly?

"Then, come forward," the two cats came closer to the Moonpool, then, Brightpaw saw something in the water, he couldn't quite make it out. "Warriors of StarClan, I present to you with this apprentice. He has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant him your wisdom and insight so that he may understand your ways and heal his Clan in accordance with your will." Brightpaw then, took his cue to lap up a few drops of water and suddenly, the Moonpool's crisp, clean water, tasting exactly like the moonlight, caused his eyes to feel heavy and he gladly laid down letting sleep wash over his body.

* * *

><p><strong>Muahaha! Brightpaw's fate has been sealed! Though, it's not that bad of a fate. The next chapter will have your minds exploding. Yep, brains everywhere. Good job Guide, good job. ThunderClan's medicine cat's identity is being debated right now... (This means, even<em> I <em>don't know who he is, but, he'll be revealed in time)**

**Brightpaw: What's going to happen? Will my brain explode? *puts paws on head***

**Guide: No, no, it won't you'll be fine young one.**

**Brightpaw: That's a relief.**

**Guide: Well, sweet dreams.**

**Brightpaw: Wait but, I'm awake right *hit with a frying pan* *thud***

**Guide: Not anymore. ;)**


	11. Chapter 10

_Brightpaw's eyes snapped open. He was in a large moor, much like WindClan's moor. "Hello?" he called out._

_ "Welcome to StarClan Brightpaw.__" Brightpaw jumped._

_ He spun around and saw a light brown tabby with amber eyes. He could almost recognize the cat, but his name slipped his mind. "Uh, you're, I can't quite," Brightpaw said silently, then, he suddenly remembered, "You're Onestar!" _

_ The cat nodded, "I've been watching you Brightpaw," the cat mewed. _

_ "Really?" the apprentice asked in his quiet voice._

_ "Of course, I've been watching ever since your birth, guiding you," Onestar explained._

_ "Wait, so it's because of you I can't become a warrior?"_

_ "No, not really, that was kind of your own," he struggled to find the right word, but finally settled on, "fault."_

_ "What? How was it my fault?" Brightpaw screeched in a voice louder than usual startling the former leader._

_ "Well, you were born with a bad sense of balance in your hind legs, when you were born, you were on your way to StarClan, but, I intervened and sent you back, but, that caused your sense balance to be... altered."_

_ "Then, why didn't you let me die?" Brightpaw asked with curiosity._

_ "Well, because, I didn't want you to," Onestar shifted uncomfortably on his paws._

_ "Why didn't you want me to? I was just a kit, you hardly knew me," Brightpaw knew he was stumping Onestar. _

_ "Well, because I care about you, Brightpaw, you're my great, great-grandson," Brightpaw was taken aback._

_ "No, that can't be," Brightpaw said surprised. "You can't be."_

_ "I am; where you think Dawnpaw got her brown coloring mixed with gray?"_

_ "But, Oakstar, he's, his pelt, it's nothing like yours," Brightpaw said in denial._

_ "I never said I was related to your father, I'm related to your mother," Brightpaw was stunned, genuinely stunned, he had never thought he'd be related to Onestar. _

_ "D-Does Swanfeather know?" Brightpaw asked._

_ "Well, yes, obviously, her father told her when she was just a few moons old. I remember watching your father chase after her, along with Foxseeker, Cedarear, and Silverstorm."_

_ "Really, what was it like?" Brightpaw asked intrigued._

_ "Well, Foxseeker chased after her for a while, even after she had announced she had chosen Oakstar as her mate, Silverstorm eventually gave up, though, he did like Cloudheart." Brightpaw chuckled; he had never known his former mentor had liked Cloudheart. Maybe that was why he had no problem taking him to the medicine den. "As for Cedarear, he was, a bit older than her, I always found that funny. I remember during her warrior ceremony, her voice made practically every male warrior drool. It was quite funny watching that, even Rockstar couldn't help to listen to her young, soothing voice back then." _

_ Brightpaw laughed. He imagined his father drooling over his mother. "Look Brightpaw, I didn't want you to be stuck as a medicine cat, but it was really the only other option, that's why I gave you good sense of smell, to help you find herbs," Brightpaw sighed. _

_ "It doesn't really matter, I like being a medicine cat," he mewed happily._

_ "That's a relief, I think you'll make an excellent medicine cat, though, you might want to be careful," Onestar warned._

_ "Careful? About what?" the apprentice asked curiously._

_ "Oh, you'll see soon, it's almost time for you to wake up, also, I believe you might be a bit hungry, and your front paw's in a strange position," Onestar mewed in a matter-of-factly tone._

Brightpaw's eyes opened and he stood up, cringing as his paw was in a strange pain. "Argh," he muttered. He had rolled over and slept on his paw. He gingerly put his paw back onto the stone and winced at the slight pain that ran up his leg. Cloudheart began to stir along with Lilypaw.

"Brightpaw, you're awake, normally, I'm the first one to wake up," Cloudheart then noticed Brightpaw not putting weight on his front paw. "What's wrong with your paw?"

"What? Nothing, I fell asleep on it, now it kind of hurts."

"Oh, alright, we'll fix that once we get back to camp," Cloudheart said. The sun was just rising. The rest of the medicine cats slowly stirred and woke up. Lilypaw yawned. Brightpaw yawned as well. The eight cats prepared to leave the Moonpool.

"Is it time to head back now?" Brightpaw asked.

"Yes it is, you're an official medicine cat apprentice now," Cloudheart purred.

"As are you Lilypaw," Bluestream purred to her apprentice. Brightpaw padded across the WindClan moor with Cloudheart.

"How was your dream?"

"It was, interesting," Brightpaw responded thinking about his meeting with Onestar. "Say, Cloudheart," Brightpaw began to ask his mentor.

"Yes?" Cloudheart responded.

"Do you know who my great, great-grandfather is?"

Cloudheart was stunned momentarily. "Er, I don't think you want to know the answer to that question," Cloudheart responded turning her head away.

"Really? Why?" Brightpaw asked curious.

"No, Brightpaw, trust me, you'd rather not know," Cloudheart then padded ahead of her apprentice.

_What's so bad about having Onestar as my great, great grandfather, I just wanted to know if it was true,_ Brightpaw thought.

They eventually made it back to camp where they entered the medicine den where Silverstorm was waiting. "Silverstorm, what are you doing in here?" Cloudheart asked. Brightpaw then suddenly remembered his chat with Onestar. He chuckled.

"I, er, sprained my paw on guard duty," he said gingerly holding up his paw. Cloudheart sighed and went to get herbs. Brightpaw chuckled as he left the den to check on the rest of the Clan.

* * *

><p><strong>DUN DUN DUN! Brightpaw is related to Onestar! Though, not all of his heritage has been uncovered. The rest of his heritage will melt your piece of gray matter. <strong>

**Onestar: Should I have told Brightpaw he's related to...**

**Guide: ARGH! You're just as bad as he is! No spoilers!**

**Onestar: But, what's so bad about it?**

**Guide: It ruins the plot! I need to explain to you what spoilers are. *grabs frying pan***

**Onestar: *gulp***


	12. Chapter 11

Cats gathered in the alleyway of the human town. "The lake, it's not much farther. Soon, those wild cats will flee, and leave us their territory. We will never again starve," a white tom said. Cats muttered in agreement, but fell silent almost immediately when he raised his tail.

"Now, we will need a spy, tell us of their weaknesses. Killer," the white cat called for one of his own. A tom, pure black with piercing green eyes padded to the front and dipped his head.

"Yes, how can I be of service?" he said respectfully, though, in his heart, he wanted nothing more than to kill this cat for his treachery.

"You wish to prove your loyalty to us, is that true?"

"Yes, yes it is sir," Killer said respectfully. _Yeah, prove my loyalty so I can rip your throat out when I get close enough!_

"Then, infiltrate the wild cats, find a soft one, give us their secrets, meet us by the horses in one moon cycle." Killer nodded respectfully.

"Yes sir," Killer padded off. "I have a plan," Killer didn't like this plan, it could get him killed, but, the reward outweighed the risk.

"Speak your plan," the white tom said.

"You should injure me, that way, they will be more sympathetic to me," Killer explained.

"Good, good idea, now, _Crimson_, _Talon_," two other cats emerged from the crowd dipping their heads respectively. "Injure him, but don't kill him," Crimson; a brown tabby with black markings and Talon, a dark brown tom grinned.

Their expressions read, _Gladly_, Killer cringed as they prepared to attack.

~oOo~

Killer had dragged himself all the way to the lake. He cursed; Crimson and Talon had injured him pretty badly. He had cuts and bruises all along his shoulder, flank, ears, hind legs, and back. He was bleeding and it was very painful, but it will finally be worth it to be rid of that cat they group called a leader forever. As of now, he will do as he was commanded. He dragged himself to a place near the lake, right next to a place with horses.

He plopped down and waited for a cat or someone to find him, before he bled out. Then, he heard something. He listened hard. "Brightpaw, you're slowing us down!" hissed a she-cat.

"Well, it's either that or suffer Leaf Bare's cold winds! I'm collecting tansy and coltsfoot. Good for coughs," the one called 'Brightpaw' retorted, Killer had to struggle to hear what he was saying.

"That's enough Dawnpaw, Brightpaw is collecting herbs to help us in Leaf Bare and it will be long and harsh," a tom scolded.

"Yes, but, what if a RiverClan cat," the cats emerged and saw Killer.

"Great StarClan," the smallest cat said silently with concern. He had light gray fur, like metal and river blue eyes. "What happened?" he immediately ran over.

"Brightpaw, we don't even know who that is!" a cat hissed.

"Stuff moss in it Foxseeker, it doesn't matter, we _don't_ know, so, we should help, go find me cobwebs and goldenrod _now_!" the other two cats jumped at the smaller cat's silent, yet harsh commands and ran. "What happened to you?" Brightpaw asked concern in his eyes.

"Attacked," Killer said vaguely.

"Alright, that's ah, helpful," the fox like cat returned with a bundle of goldenrod, "Now, find horsetail, you'll find it around the lake," Brightpaw began to chew the goldenrod. Killer was curious. The she-cat returned with cobwebs. Brightpaw applied the chewed up goldenrod to Killer wounds who hissed in pain.

"Stay still you mouse-brain," Brightpaw growled in a quiet tone. He then pressed the cobwebs onto the wounds when Foxseeker returned with a bundle of horsetail. He chewed it again applying it to Killer's wounds.

The younger she-cat whispered to Foxseeker, "I don't feel like we should be helping him."

"It's either that, or we face Brightpaw, need I remind you, he's the medicine cat apprentice? He can slip something into your fresh-kill and have you vomiting for days," Foxseeker whispered back.

"Okay, you should be relatively better," Killer winced and stood up. His wounds had stopped bleeding and hurt less.

"Wow, that's amazing!" he said surprised. This cat couldn't be more than seven or eight months old and practically healed Killer.

"I'm Brightpaw, what's your name?" Brightpaw asked Killer.

"My name is," Killer paused, a name like Killer might cause suspicion, "Dusk," Killer responded.

"Alright, I can assume you're a loner?" Foxseeker asked.

"Yes, I actually need some help, but I need to warn your leader or whoever has authority."

"Well, we have Brightpaw, he's the medicine cat apprentice," the she-cat said.

"_Apprentice_, Dawnpaw, I'm not a full medicine cat yet," he hissed silently to the she-cat, he turned back to Killer. "Well, we'd be happy to pass along the message, I suggest you try not to put too much weight on your left shoulder, it's the worst, don't move around too much otherwise you'll reopen the wounds and," Killer cut Brightpaw off.

"Whoa! I didn't know you were a vet!" Killer said in shock.

"He's the medicine cat apprentice, he's training to heal the Clan," Dawnpaw explained.

"Ah, that would make sense," Killer nodded.

"Alright, but try not to open the wounds, if you do, put some horsetail or marigold on it to help prevent infection and cover it back up with cobwebs."

"I need to talk to a leader or something," Killer almost couldn't bring himself to lie to the young cat in front of him, _almost_. "I'm being followed, once they kill me, they'll kill you all." Foxseeker contemplated on it.

"Of course," Brightpaw said, "Follow us," Foxseeker was stunned. Killer carefully treaded closer to Brightpaw taking advantage of the cat's sympathy.

Foxseeker narrowed his eyes at Killer, "Will you stop it!" Brightpaw snapped. His voice was quiet, but stung, even Killer.

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"What harm could he do, he's practically defenseless," Brightpaw retorted harshly, Killer mentally chuckled; oh he could easily kill Brightpaw, Dawnpaw and Foxseeker and get away with it. "Besides, the camp's right over there," Killer was led to a camp near a dip in the hills. There were cats eating, talking, and just relaxing.

"This is the camp, you stay here, I'll go get Oakstar, I don't suggest you try attacking either Brightpaw or Dawnpaw," Killer tilted his head, why shouldn't he? He could kill any cat in nearly any state, so long as he could stand.

"Why?"

"Oakstar is our leader and Brightpaw and Dawnpaw are his kits, lay a claw on one of them and all of his claws will tear out your throat," Foxseeker warned Killer in a tone of amusement, then, dashed into the camp to look for Oakstar. Killer looked at Brightpaw, scanning the cat for weaknesses. He was the runt of the litter, his smaller size would make it easier to kill him, and he's clumsy in a fight. Dawnpaw however, was trained, though, not enough to kill Killer, she was larger than Brightpaw by just a bit and she was more muscled than Brightpaw.

A brown tabby approached the cats. "Dusk, I am Oakstar, Foxseeker tells me you have a warning to give me," he said eyeing Killer carefully.

"Yes, I came to warn you, there is a group of cats who are here and they will kill us all," Oakstar's expression remained normal.

"Very well, Brightpaw, go tell Cloudheart that the two of you will leave for the Moonpool tonight and share tongues with StarClan."

"Yes Oakstar," Brightpaw responded obediently and bounded off to a rock.

"Now, we have gotten your warning, please leave," Oakstar said politely.

"But, I won't make it very far," Killer countered, attempting to stay.

"Hmm, I might be willing to let you into our Clan, though, this is a very rare offer and you will have to prove your worth." Killer took the chance.

"Yes, I am willing to aid your Clan, I believe I can become a valuable asset," Oakstar grunted at Killer.

"Very well, go to the medicine den, you will stay there until your wounds heal," he turned to Dawnpaw, "Lead him to the medicine den, inform Cloudheart of what is happening," Dawnpaw nodded and gestured for Killer to follow her.

"I'd watch what I say around Cloudheart," Dawnpaw said vaguely, "you never know when she's listening; she can often surprise you at times." Killer nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>Antagonist? Gasp! Yep, we have our central antagonists here. Though, I won't tell you much more. I love nearly spoiling stuff. CaitlynBug1 has had experience with it. <strong>

**Killer: You know, my name is...**

**Guide: What is with you cats and spoilers? *grabs frying pan***

**Killer: *growls* Don't you dare.**

**Guide: Why?**

**Killer: Remember Onestar? **


	13. Chapter 12

Goldenpaw stretched and was getting ready for a training session with Tallstripe, today, it was just the two of them and he were getting ready to learn. He had noticed a cat, a black tom with green eyes, just inside the medicine den. "Dusk! Stay still!" he heard Brightpaw hiss quietly, "Otherwise I might cut the wound open!" Goldenpaw chuckled at his brother; he had gotten a little more confident. "I don't care if you're uncomfortable! Stay still!" Tallstripe padded over.

"Ready?" Tallstripe asked.

"Yep!" Goldenpaw responded excitedly.

"Very well, let's go," Tallstripe said leading his apprentice to a hill where they would begin training. Goldenpaw settled down in front of Tallstripe. "Today, I will be assessing your hunting skills and your stealth, I want you to go catch a rabbit, but, I want you to get as close as you can."

"Okay!" the golden apprentice bounded off to find a rabbit. Goldenpaw sniffed the air. There was a field mouse, but no rabbit. He carefully ran through the territory, sniffing the air as he went along. He sighed and gave up hope, then, noticed out of the corner of his eye a blob of white fur. He turned and carefully began to stalk towards it. The smell of the rabbit was making his mouth water. The wind blowing his scent away from the rabbit, he carefully crept up on the rabbit, making sure that it doesn't smell or hear him. It continued to nibble on a bit of grass. He was fox length away from it. It paused. Goldenpaw didn't want to push his luck any longer; he pushed off from the ground and flew towards the rabbit landing a killing bite on its neck.

"Good job," Tallstripe mewed from behind. Goldenpaw jumped and dropped his rabbit.

"Great StarClan!" he shouted. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry, but, still you did an excellent job, you're hunting skills are near perfect." Goldenpaw grinned. The two padded back to camp. Dusk was just emerging from the medicine den and was just about the stretch his legs when Cloudheart screeched at him.

"Not again! I just put a fresh poultice on that and cobwebs. That is the third time you've reopened it, do that and I'll make mouse-meat out of you!" Dusk flinched ever so slightly at Cloudheart's words. Goldenpaw set the rabbit down in the fresh-kill pile. He sat down to rest when Dusk came over.

"Hello," Goldenpaw greeted the cat.

"Hello, what's your name?"

"Goldenpaw, I heard Brightpaw hiss at you this morning," Goldenpaw let out a small laugh.

"Oh, right, I kept on moving, I'm not used to resting on moss."

"Really, moss is the best thing to sleep on. It's so warm and comfortable, I could just stay in my moss nest through all of Leaf Bare," Goldenpaw said as the cold Leaf Fall winds blew gently.

"Leaf Bare?" Dusk asked confused.

"The time when it gets really cold, prey is hard to find," Goldenpaw said almost urging the black tom to understand.

"Oh, you mean winter," Dusk said understanding.

"Winter?" Goldenpaw said as if pronouncing a new word.

"I'm from the human place, what you call Leaf Bare, we call winter."

"Human," Goldenpaw said again butchering the word terribly.

"The creatures that stand on two legs, are taller, have pet cats, and so forth," Dusk explained.

"Oh, you mean a twoleg," Goldenpaw said thinking about the twolegs. He shuddered at the thought.

"Well, Brightpaw seems really shy, though, he seems to trust me," Dusk said settling himself on the grass in front of Goldenpaw.

"That's pretty rare, he hardly ever is that open with many cats, ever since we were kits, he's always been shy; he used to be a warrior apprentice, now he's a medicine cat apprentice, very important. Without a medicine cat, a Clan isn't exactly going to survive too long."

"I see, so, what about a leader?"

"Well, typically, the warrior code says that a leader's word is law. Whatever he says goes, though, leaders are typically fair. Every leader has nine lives. The leader is first into battle and last to take prey."

"Wait, nine lives, I thought that was a myth," Dusk responded in surprise.

"Well, every leader gets nine lives so they have more chances to lead the clan, I don't know how many lives my father has," Dusk was startled. "Though, Brightpaw says that a medicine cat can tell, but, he won't tell me, I even promised I would bring him extra fresh-kill for a moon."

"Goldenpaw, how does one become a leader? How does one get nine lives?"

"Err, I only know to become a leader, the previous leader has to either officially retire or lose his ninth life, then, the deputy becomes the next leader. I'm not sure how a leader gets nine lives," Goldenpaw explained. Brightpaw came over.

"Hello Goldenpaw," the medicine cat apprentice greeted quietly. "Dusk, I need to check your wounds." Dusk nodded and Brightpaw began to look at Dusk's wounds.

"Brightpaw, do you know how a leader gets their nine lives?" Dusk asked.

"Err, I'm not exactly sure, I just know they go to the Moonpool with the Clan's medicine cat." He finished checking Dusk's wounds, "You're good, nothing's bleeding or reopened, don't reopen them, please, it's Leaf Fall and herbs are hard to come by now." He quickly left, returning to the medicine den. Dusk turned back to Goldenpaw.

"What is the Moonpool?"

"Oh, it's where we go to share tongues with StarClan, the medicine cats go every half-moon."

"What is StarClan?"

"StarClan is our warrior ancestors. They guide us and send prophecies and omens to cats, mainly medicine cats. It's their job to decipher them."

"Hmm, so, medicine cats are important?" Dusk asked curiously.

"Of course, only a mouse brain would call them unimportant, they're just as important as any warrior around here."

"Ah, thank you, I've learned so much," Goldenpaw smiled. Dusk padded away content. Goldenpaw relaxed in the sun, happy that his assessment had gone so well.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! Another Chapter! I know it's crappy, though, it let's Killer (Dusk, if you're confused, reread chapter 11) get the information he needs. Oh noes! Bah, it's part of the plot.<strong>

**Killer: Goldenpaw gave me the information I need.**

**Guide: Alright then, go tell your leader whose name will not be revealed for a long time.**

**Killer: But, can I betray the trust these cats have given me?**

**Guide: Of course! It's not like you're friends with them... yet.**

**Killer: But, should I, you know how it all turns out.**

**Guide: Of course I do! I'm the author you idiot!**

**Darkstripe: Any chance you could bring me and a few Dark Forest cats over to StarClan? Specifically to Firestar, and somehow work that into the story?**

**Guide: Get out of here! *Grabs frying pan* I'm not a fan of Dark Forest cats, well, actually, I pity you, but still, back to where you came from! *Brandishes frying pan***


	14. Chapter 13

Dawnpaw was out on a hunting patrol with Ravenwhisker and Honeyfur. Ravenwhisker had trailed a bit off to follow the scent of a juicy rabbit. Honeyfur stayed with her apprentice and Dawnpaw. Dawnpaw was stalking a field mouse. She pounced, but it scampered away. She let out a hiss of regret and returned to Honeyfur's side. "Bad luck," Honeyfur said.

"I really wanted to catch that," Dawnpaw pouted.

"We can't catch everything," Swiftpaw comforted Dawnpaw.

"But it's Leaf Fall, we need as much fresh-kill as possible," Dawnpaw retorted. She was jealous; Swiftpaw had caught a large, yet skinny hare for the clan. Swiftpaw comforted Dawnpaw by placing his tail across her back.

"You'll get the next one," he said smiling at her warmly.

"Sure," Dawnpaw said sarcastically. Ravenwhisker had returned empty pawed.

"It got away," he said with a bit of regret.

Honeyfur sighed, "Raggedpelt's not going to like that we have only a hare to show."

"At least we should be thankful; StarClan let us find this hare," Swiftpaw said, looking at the scrawny piece of fresh-kill.

"StarClan also let us find that field mouse and the rabbit, but we lost those," Ravenwhisker grumbled. The four cats padded back to camp. Raggedpelt did not look happy.

"I sent four cats, and what do we have? One scrawny hare, I want you to go back out and continue to hunt and get a least two more pieces of fresh-kill, _now_," Dawnpaw flinched, Raggedpelt always got angry and cranky during Leaf Fall because of the lack of prey. Some cat spread rumors around that he snuck extra fresh-kill for himself. The four cats left camp after placing Swiftpaw's scrawny hare into the fresh-kill pile. It was the only thing there other than a field mouse. Fresh-kill was running low. Dawnpaw wondered if they could eat the herbs in the medicine den. She cast a quick glance. She heard a ragged coughing. She sighed. She wondered who was coughing. She padded over to the medicine den and saw Goldenpaw dash out of the den over to Tallstripe. Dawnpaw gave a confused look, Goldenpaw looked worried. She poked her head into the den. Brightpaw was comforting a cat while Cloudheart placed herbs in front of her. It was a small yellow flower with other herbs she didn't know.

"Cloudheart?"

The medicine cat noticed her, "Oh, Dawnpaw, glad to see you, look, err, Swanfeather's come down with a case of whitecough, and is having a hard time breathing." Dawnpaw blinked, she was shocked... her mother was the cat coughing. "I need you to go find some-," Raggedpelt interrupted.

"Dawnpaw, Honeyfur, Ravenwhisker, and Swiftpaw are about to leave. You should go back to hunting," the deputy scolded.

"Hush Raggedpelt, I need Dawnpaw to do me a favor," Cloudheart said.

"The favor can wait, the Clan needs fresh-kill now, it is nearly Leaf Bare," Raggedpelt hissed.

"There will be other patrols, I'd rather not have a greencough epidemic sweep through WindClan," Cloudheart retorted.

Raggedpelt grunted, "Very well, what is it you need, I'll send out more patrols."

"I need the patrols to find heather, it'll soothe the throat and honey if they can; I doubt it. It'll be difficult to find, it grows randomly, but if they can find it, then bring some back, heather has small purple flowers, they should stand out." Raggedpelt nodded and Dawnpaw quickly went to join Swiftpaw and the rest of the patrol.

"There you are, I was beginning to think you fell asleep you door-mouse." Swiftpaw teased.

"Come on, you two," Honeyfur mewed urgently. "Can't risk upsetting Raggedpelt.

The patrol padded out, Swiftpaw continued to tease Dawnpaw. "Why are you so sad? Come on, we're going hunting! We should try to help the Clan. The more energetic we are, the more fresh-kill we'll bring back!"

"I'm looking for herbs, not fresh-kill this time," Dawnpaw said looking for the heather Cloudheart described.

"Why, I thought you brother was the medicine cat apprentice," Swiftpaw laughed.

"No, it's for Swanfeather, she has whitecough, I'm worried she'll get greencough."

Swiftpaw expression softened, "Oh, I-I'm sorry, I didn't know," he apologized. "What do they look like?"

"I think it has small purple flower," Dawnpaw said looking around.

"Hey is this it?"

Dawnpaw bounded over to Swiftpaw who took a sniff of the flower. "I think it's too big."

"Look, it smells nice, it must be heather," Swiftpaw took a bell. "What's it used for?"

"Umm, I think I heard Brightpaw say it's like honey."

"Really?" Swifpaw licked the inside. "It doesn't taste like honey, and a lot of seeds."

"Then I guess it's not heather," Swiftpaw and Dawnpaw padded with Ravenwhisker and Honeyfur. Ravenwhisker and Honeyfur had caught two rabbits. They were just about to make it back to camp when Swiftpaw collapsed, convulsing. "Swiftpaw?" Dawnpaw said worriedly. Swiftpaw was twitching and foam flecked his muzzle.

"What the," Honeyfur stared at her apprentice, "Get Cloudheart!"

"Cloudheart!" Dawnpaw yelled and ran into the medicine den. Only Brightpaw was there.

"She's just left to find some heather; two patrols came back with no luck."

"Brightpaw, something's wrong with Swiftpaw, he's twitching and foam is coming out of his mouth!" Dawnpaw said in a panic.

Brightpaw's expression turned grim, "He must have eaten poison. What was it?"

"Uh, he only licked a flower, there were seeds, it was a purple flower," Brightpaw gasped.

He grabbed two leaves and a few herbs. "The flea brain ate foxglove, come on!" Brightpaw dashed out of the den to where the Clan was gathered. Honeyfur had dragged Swiftpaw over to the camp. "Out!" Brightpaw yowled. Swiftpaw had a look of horror in his green eyes. He was convulsing painfully, his paws and legs were stiff and curled. Brightpaw placed two leaves in front of Swiftpaw. Brightpaw began to chew two leaves and placed the pulp into Swiftpaw's mouth as Swiftpaw swallowed with the last of his strength and began to retch up small black seeds and the fresh-kill he had this morning. Brightpaw then gave him another herb causing him to stop vomiting. Swiftpaw was taking deep breaths.

"What were you thinking you mouse brain?" Brightpaw hissed at the apprentice.

"I thought it was heather," Swiftpaw said sheepishly.

"Heather has _small_ flowers not ones the size of a cat's muzzle! Go back to the medicine den now!" Swiftpaw padded slowly back to the medicine den.

"How could you let him eat that?" Brightpaw asked, turning to Dawnpaw. His voice had returned to its regular volume, though, it was more of a scolding tone.

Dawnpaw didn't care, she ran to the medicine den where Swiftpaw laid down in a corner of the den feeling quite ashamed. He perked up for Dawnpaw. "I didn't know your brother could be so loud," he laughed half-heartedly.

"We're probably going to be confined to the camp now, I knew you shouldn't have licked it," she settled down next to him. "Well, at least you're not dead," Dawnpaw sighed.

"I know, you're brother was fast, I didn't think he'd get there that fast, but, I was expecting Cloudheart." Dawnpaw placed her tail on Swiftpaw's back.

"At least now you know, don't eat herbs unless you know what they are," Dawnpaw laughed with Swiftpaw, at least, until Cloudheart came in… Her scolding could be heard even in the ShadowClan camp.

"What in the name of StarClan is that?" Yellowstar asked.

"I haven't the slightest idea," Thornfur, her deputy mewed.

* * *

><p><strong>So, Swiftpaw the Mouse Brain ate foxglove. This'll be a bonding moment for Swiftpaw and Dawnpaw. Though, we all know this was totally random, but heather is important. 'A flowerful of heather makes the herbs go down.' <strong>

**Previously...**

**Guide: *gulp* N-no. _StarClan help me._**

**Now...**

**Swiftpaw: *drags out a beaten up Guide* Tell the nice readers what you have in store for Dawnpaw and I.**

**Guide: Can't tell, spoilers.**

**Swiftpaw: *grabs frying pan***

**Guide: That's mine...**

**Swiftpaw: But, I'm holding it.**

**Guide: Good point, listen, I'll do the best I can to make your relationship with Dawnpaw last okay? But, you will find a mate in the end, I'm not saying who though.**

**Swiftpaw: Deal, better be Dawnpaw though... *Walks off***

**Guide: ... A little help?**


	15. Chapter 14

Brightpaw was getting ready for a Gathering. He looked around camp, anxious to see who Oakstar would take. His siblings had never been to a Gathering before, but, he was sure that Oakstar was ready to take them. He waited by Cloudheart and worried for his mother. She had fallen asleep, and he was worried she wouldn't wake back up. _StarClan, please, don't let her die, not now, not yet, _he thought, hoping his warrior ancestors heard his plea. Cloudheart had used some tansy mixed with a bit of heather nectar and coltsfoot. Swanfeather was breathing easier now and wasn't as shallow as before. So far, the whitecough didn't seem to be getting any worse, but, it didn't seem to be getting any better.

The sun was nearly setting when Oakstar leapt onto TallRock. "Let all cats old enough to hunt gather under TallRock for a Clan meeting!" his voice rang out as cats gathered under the rock. Many were anxious to see who would be taken to the Gathering. "As you know, tonight is the night of the full moon, tonight at the Gathering; the following warriors will join us: Tallstripe, Foxseeker, Honeyfur, Spottedriver and Breezetail, Shimmerwing, Russetgaze and Stoneeye." This was Tallstripe's first Gathering as a warrior, he couldn't attend the last one as he had been punished for almost getting Quickpaw killed and the first one because he had stolen fresh-kill. "Dawnpaw, Goldenpaw, Swiftpaw, and Quickpaw will attend the Gathering as well." Dawnpaw and Goldenpaw leapt for joy. They dashed over to Brightpaw tumbling into their smaller littermate.

"Our first Gathering!" they said in unison happily.

"I'd celebrate with you, but someone is standing on my tail," Brightpaw said.

"Sorry," Goldenpaw mewed apologetically and he lifted his paw off of Brightpaw's tail. Cats prepared to leave for the Gathering as Cloudheart checked on Poppytail. Her kits were late and Silverstorm worriedly stayed with her whenever he could. This was strange, and her kits would have to survive though Leaf Fall, and with lack of prey, it'll be hard to keep them all fed.

"Brightpaw, it's time to go," Cloudheart said snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Alright," he responded, following the cats leaving the camp. They had reached the tree-bridge that lead to the island. He carefully set his paws on the rough bark and padded along the bridge, careful not to fall off into the water below. His paws landed on the soft grass and he quickly followed the rest of WindClan. Yellowstar and Lionstar where already there waiting.

"WindClan has arrived," Lionstar announced. The ThunderClan cats smelled of the forest and trees, not a scent Brightpaw was used to, ShadowClan smelled more like the mud and reeked with the stench of the earth.

Finally, the bushes rustled as the final Clan emerged. Loudstar leapt onto the branch with the rest of the leaders. Brightpaw waited with Silentsong, Amberpaw, Bluestream and Lilypaw. Amberpaw tapped Brightpaw on the shoulder. "Thanks for the suggestion, it seems to be working, though, the kits keep on breaking into the medicine den," Amberpaw laughed.

"They're not eating anything they're not supposed to, are they?" Lilypaw asked.

"No, Silentsong ushered Littlekit out of the den so fast, he couldn't even sniff an herb," the apprentices laughed.

"Anything happening in your Clans?" Amberpaw asked.

"No, nothing right now," Brightpaw lied, he wasn't sure if he should tell them about Swanfeather's whitecough. He wondered how his mother was doing without him or Cloudheart. Wasn't really wise to leave her alone? Brightpaw pushed the thought aside. His mother would be fine; Cloudheart gave her instructions to eat the herbs she had set beside her. Lilypaw settled closer to Brightpaw. Even though she was a few moons younger than him, she was already a cat head taller than him. He didn't mind. He was used to being small.

"We keep finding strange scents on our territory," Lilypaw informed.

"Really, from what Clan?" Brightpaw asked.

"We don't know that's why I said strange, mousebrain," Lilypaw sighed. Brightpaw let out a small laugh.

Brightpaw looked around the Gathering, many scents hitting his nose at once, the forest scent of ThunderClan, the earthen scent of ShadowClan and the fishy, lake scent of RiverClan, he had been to a Gathering before, but the large groups of cat always spooked him. Cloudheart pushed him. "Go talk to other apprentices but be careful of what you say." Brightpaw left the medicine cats and waded through the groups until he bumped into a cat.

"S-sorry," he apologized. He looked up at a deep red cat with greenish blue eyes gazing at him. **[Gasp! Could it be?]**

"Hi, I'm Whitepaw. This is my first Gathering." The apprentice smiled at him. **[It is! Whitepaw from Caitlynbug1's story!]**

"I'm Brightpaw. Why are you named Whitepaw?" he asked.

"Oh, my belly and paws are white," she explained to him. A brown tabby with dark stripes padded over.

"Whitepaw are you giving this cat our secrets?" she leaned closer to Whitepaw, then, turned to narrow her golden amber eyes at Brightpaw, causing the cat to cringe away.

"No, you're being paranoid Tigerpaw," Whitepaw retorted. "This is Brightpaw, he's from," Whitepaw turned back to Brightpaw and took a delicate sniff at his fur, "WindClan."

Then, Tigerpaw gasped grinning, "You like him don't you?"

"What? No! What in the name of StarClan gave you that idea?"

"Whitepaw likes a random cat," Tigerpaw started singing, circling the two before padding off.

"Stuff moss in it," Whitepaw grumbled, "Sorry about my sister, she's just… weird."

"It's okay; I've seen my own share of strange cats. Honestly, some of the bravest warriors come running into the den whimpering like kits just to have me take a thorn that's not even the size of a claw out of their paw. Cloudheart just sends them to me," Brightpaw sighed, thinking about the time Shimmerwing ran into the den, shrieking like someone had died. Cloudheart and Brightpaw thought the worse and Brightpaw had grabbed marigold, cobwebs, goldenrod and ragwort, only to find, she had cracked a pad. And, the crack wasn't even that big! It was smaller than a kit's claw!

"Really? You're a medicine cat apprentice?"

"Yes, I am," Brightpaw responded.

"That's really cool! Our medicine cat's, well, I don't think I should say…"

"If you don't want to that's alright, I understand if you don't want to say anything to harm your Clan, it's a worry among all cats," Brightpaw responded.

"To be honest, the Gathering's making me nervous."

Brightpaw tilted his head, "Nervous?"

"Well, I've never seen so many cats here before, what if a fight breaks out?" Whitepaw nervously glanced around the clearing.

Brightpaw chuckled, "No fighting will break out," Brightpaw continued to laugh soliciting a confused look from Whitepaw's bluish green eyes, "It's a full moon, would _you_ risk the wrath of StarClan?"

"What does a full moon have to do with that?"

"Well, Gatherings are held under a full moon, a time when the Clans get together and share tongues, it's StarClan's will, if any fighting breaks out, StarClan sends clouds to cover up the moon, showing their disappointment." Brightpaw still laughed.

"So, there's no fighting?"

"Well, not with tooth and claw, but with words, maybe," Brightpaw responded thoughtfully.

Whitepaw seemed to relax, "You're one of the first friends I've made outside of ThunderClan," she meowed.

"Well, I've made friends with other Clan cats, though, they're all medicine cats," Brightpaw mewed.

The Clan leaders held up their tails for silence. Brightpaw noticed Whitepaw was going to say something else, but he stood up, bumped into cats clumsily who hissed at him and finally made it to the medicine cats.

Yellowstar was first to speak, "We are proud to say we have new kits, Blossomears has given birth to healthy litter of four, more kits are along the way. Fresh-kill is running well," she stepped down.

Then, it was Loudstar's turn, "RiverClan is doing well, Leaf Fall has hardly bothered us, prey is plentiful," Loudstar spoke rather quickly.

Oakstar took his turn. "WindClan is doing well, sickness has not dealt any crippling blows and Poppytail's kits are along the way." Brightpaw's father stepped back as Lionstar took his turn. He walked forth proud, his golden fur, almost illuminating the clearing, catching moonlight. Brightpaw could never get used to how shiny and reflective it was.

"ThunderClan has three new apprentices and a new warrior: Whitepaw, Branchpaw, Tigerpaw, and Foxwhisper!" Cats cheered out the names, Brightpaw joining in, albeit, his voice was rather soft. He noticed a few ThunderClan cats, Whitepaw included, shifting slightly. "I would also like to warn any cat patrolling or hunting in their territory. ThunderClan has been attacked by foxes with an apprentice killed and another severely injured. If you do these foxes and it goes on another Clan's territory, please either warn that Clan or run the fox out, even if it means going into that territory. Thank you," Lionstar stepped down. Brightpaw shifted worriedly. ThunderClan territory was right next to WindClan territory. He carefully considered once getting back to camp to leave pre-bound bundles of herbs to treat cats with. The leaders crowed to talk to one another leaving the Clans to talk among themselves.

It was time for the Clans to start leaving Brightpaw said good-bye to the rest of the medicine cats before leaving with Cloudheart. He quickly padded over to WindClan, bumping into a few cats along the way. "Sorry," he murmured before finding his siblings. "How was your first Gathering?"

"It was amazing! I met an apprentice from ShadowClan!"

"I talked with a warrior from RiverClan, didn't seem to like me though," Goldenpaw pouted.

"Well, it's over and we should start to head home." Dawnpaw and Goldenpaw yawned.

"I've never been so tired before," Dawnpaw blinked.

"Well, once we get back to the camp, you sleep on your soft moss nest, oh so warm, oh so soft, could make a cat fall asleep right now," Brightpaw teased.

"Shut it," Goldenpaw mewed in annoyance, batting Brightpaw's ears. The cats followed the rest of the Clan home.

Once they had gotten back to camp, Brightpaw rested on his moss nest, for not two heartbeats before a ear splitting cry ripped through the camp. He dashed out, Silverstorm padding over to Cloudheart.

* * *

><p><strong>Welp, another chapter. And Caitlynbug1 and I are doing a partial co-write, we're not going to get too involved in the others story, but we will have two plot lines running at once. So, her story will remain separate from mine. <strong>

**Guide: This was unexpected... well, the timeline must adapt. Only StarClan can guide their paws. While I guide StarClan.**

**Cait: Well, have fun with that. I know how my story's going to end.**

**Whitepaw: Brightpaw was nice, but he was rather small.**

**Brightpaw: Well, I'm the runt of the litter... *looks sad***

**Guide: You dare injure his feelings?**

**Whitepaw: I didn't mean to!**

**Cait: Don't yell at her!**

**Guide: Don't yell at me! *Grabs for frying pan* Wait a minute, where is it?**

**Whitepaw: Oh, you mean this? *Holds frying pan* *Brightpaw and Guide back up slowly***

**Guide: Okay, just put the pan down... *Gestures hands downward* *Whitepaw and Cait look at one another***

**Brightpaw: StarClan save us.**

**Guide: They'd better. **


	16. Chapter 15

"Cloudheart!" Silverstorm called Cloudheart in a panic. The white she-cat jumped out of her nest, she dashed out of the den to the nursery, Brightpaw following her.

"What's wrong?" Cloudheart asked Silverstorm.

"It's Poppytail," the silver tom said worriedly.

"My kits are coming!" she yowled in pain.

"Okay, let's hurry, Brightpaw, go get me a stick, raspberry leaves, and ragwort." The apprentice nodded dashing into to the medicine cat den. He looked at the herbs, selecting a thick stick, three emerald-green raspberry leaves, and grassy green ragwort. He dashed out of the den, giving his mother a worried look.

Brightpaw returned to the nursery where he gave Poppytail the stick while she yowled. The first kit came out easily. Cloudheart nipped the sack surrounding it and Brightpaw grabbed her by the scruff and began to lick her ginger fur.

"That's good, one kit, only a few more to go," Poppytail screamed in agony, pushing out the second kit, a gray tom, the color of the poppy seeds. Brightpaw continued to lick to two kits to get their blood flowing.

"Okay, here we go, last kit," Cloudheart said encouragingly as Poppytail screamed in agony while she pushed out her final kit, a brown tabby, Brightpaw was alternating between the three kits. "Good job Poppytail, they're beautiful."

"Cloudheart, why does it still, argh!" Poppytail screamed again… she was pushing out a fourth kit. There was a problem. Brightpaw smelled blood.

"Cloudheart, I smell, Poppytail!" Silverstorm mewed in shock.

She pushed out her final, final kit, covered in blood, Brightpaw looked up and gasped. It was a runt… just like him. Cloudheart immediately began to lick the kitten and turned her attention to Poppytail.

"Poppytail, stay with me, focus on my voice," the queen was tired, Brightpaw was worried, if she died, who would nurse these kits, Silverstorm worried came over to Poppytail's side.

"Please Poppytail, if you die, our kits will too," Silverstorm mewed sadly.

"Silverstorm," Cloudheart mewed sadly, "Poppytail's lost too much blood," Cloudheart's white pelt was stained with scarlet blood.

"No! She won't die! _You're_ medicine cats, fix her!" Silverstorm screamed at Brightpaw and Cloudheart, but Brightpaw had no idea what to do.

"C-Cloudheart, w-what do we do?" Brightpaw asked worriedly. Without their mother, these kits will starve to death.

"I-I don't know, but we'll have to try," she said determined.

"I'll go get the ragwort and chamomile." Brightpaw dashed out of the nursery, grabbing the herbs in the den and dashed back. Cats gathered around the nursery, worried for Poppytail. Poppytail weakly chewed the herbs and swallowed. Cloudheart stayed with Poppytail, making sure the queen was strong. Brightpaw waited with Silverstorm.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you like that," his former mentor meowed.

"It's okay Silverstorm, I know what you're going through, it's hard to watch loved ones die in front of you."

Cloudheart padded out, cats gazed at her anxiously.

"I'm sorry," she mewed.

"No!" Silverstorm shouted, pushing the she-cat aside dashing into the den. Poppytail was dead, blood pooling around her, but her kits were mewling, pleading for milk.

"They're going to die, there's no milk…" Oakstar meowed sadly.

"What about ThunderClan? We can ask them for help?" Brightpaw suggested.

"Are you completely mouse brained!?" Raggedpelt bellowed, "ThunderClan has helped us too many times before!"

"Would you rather have kits die? Or will your pride claim the lives of four kits?" Brightpaw suggested.

Raggedpelt flapped his mouth, surprised at the usually shy tom's counter argument. He growled at Brightpaw, unable to come up with a response.

"It's a good idea, but who will go?"

"I will," Cloudheart mewed."

"No, you can't, my mother needs you here, I'll go," Brightpaw said, cats looked at him in shock, "I can't hunt, I can't fight and Cloudheart is more experienced than I am, it'll be two moons, just two moons and I'll be back."

"But, you can't just stay over there," Oakstar argued, he obviously did not want Brightpaw to leave, at all.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine and I'm eight moons old for StarClan's sake. I'm a medicine cat apprentice, that'll do me some good," Brightpaw reasoned.

"But what if they attack you?"

"They won't. Would _you_ attack a medicine cat apprentice? Especially when doing so would unleash the rage of his father and might as well start a war with another Clan?"

Oakstar mewed sadly, "I-I just don't want you to leave, I just don't want you getting hurt."

"I'll be fine," Brightpaw explained, "I'll leave tomorrow, someone's going to have to carry these kits over for me, and Silverstorm, you'll get the proud honor of naming them," Brightpaw mewed, trying to cheer the warrior up. Silverstorm felt better, wrapping his tail around the three kits, obviously favoring the gray tom with specks on his back, looking the most like his mother. Brightpaw nudged the runt closer to her father, and Silverstorm reluctantly picked her up.

* * *

><p><strong>OMG! Poppytail has died. I was planning for this, her kits were late and she had complications.<strong>

**Guide: Let us mourn over the loss of Poppytail.**

**Brightpaw: She was so nice.**

**Dawnpaw: I never really got to know her.**


End file.
